40.
A LARGE WUCAI LOBED JAR
Ming dynasty, Jiajing mark and of the period
39 cm high
Da Ming Jiajing nianzhi six-character mark.
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
Inv. n. 3553.
The six-lobed jar is decorated in the wucai (five colours) palette, referring to overglaze enamelled decoration which are painted on the fired body prior to the second firing. The colours consist primarily of red, green and yellow, although other colours exist such as turquoise or blue as on this jar, and aubergine and black.
The jar was made for the imperial Ming court as is exemplified in the six medallions each enclosing a five-clawed dragon, symbolic of the emperor, above waves, as well as the reign mark on the base.
The lotus, framing each roundel, is one of the Eight Buddhist Emblems, is symbolic of purity.
A similar jar from the Qing Court Collection is in the Palace Museum, Beijing (Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong 1999, p. 7, n. 6); another is in the Shanghai Museum (W. Qingzheng, A Dictionary of Chinese Ceramics, Singapore 2002, p. 232); a third example is in the Baur Foundation, Geneve (J. Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, 2 voll., Geneve 1999, I, pp. 148-149, n. 89); a fourth one from the Grandidier collection is in Musée Guimet, Paris (D. Lion-Goldschmidt, Ming Porcelain, London 1978, p. 170, n. 149). A further variant with the same decorative scheme but with aubergine enamel ground was also made in the Jiajing period.
